A variety of sports require the use of a netted goal at one or both ends of a playing surface. Such sports include ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and roller and street hockey. In the practice of such sports, at least one player is generally designated as a goal tender (or "goalie"). The other players scrimmage while the designated goalie attempts to block shots taken at the goal.
In practice sessions or games involving relatively few players, it can be inconvenient to designate someone as goalie. Younger players, for instance, often prefer not to take the position of goalie. If only a few players are available, designating a person as goalie may leave necessary positions vacant. In the case where two players play "one-on-one", the goalie position is obviously left open. When the goalie position is left vacant, making shots can become too easy. In the case of hockey or soccer, even shots of considerable distance are much less difficult without a goalie.
The present invention permits athletes to adjust the size of the goal's entrance. By adjusting the height or width of the goal's entrance, the athlete can practice shooting into a goal having an entrance which is much smaller that regulation size. A sufficiently small entrance can effectively simulate the presence of a goalie.
The prior art discloses foldable goal assemblies but not goal structures which can be adjusted to vary the dimensions of the goal's entrance. U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,282 discloses a foldable goal which can be collapsed to an easily storable structure. The patent discloses that the front side bars can telescope to reduce the size of the goal, but this is merely in the context of collapsing the entire unit for storage. The patent disloses that the rear central support member does not telescope or otherwise change in length, so the frame, once constructed, cannot be adjusted to reduce the goal's entrance and also remain upright or stable.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,501,150 and 3,698,715 disclose a collapsible hockey goal which can be folded into a compact unit. The patents do not disclose a goal which can be adjusted to provide a range of dimensions for the goal's entrance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,966 discloses a goal assembly which can be adjusted to make scoring more or less difficult. Rather than alter the size of the goal's opening, the patent discloses placing a back board within the goal which is varied in shape. The difficulty in scoring can be varied by, for instance, including a rule in the game that to score a puck or ball must pass through a cut-out in the back board. Thus, unlike the present invention, scoring is made more difficult by adjusting a structure within the goal rather than the dimensions of the goal's entrance.